Irfan, Parthiv and Tiwary among captains to back neutral Ranji Trophy venues

NEW DELHI: News on Friday that the BCCI’s working committee has approved the technical committee's proposal to hold all upcoming Ranji Trophy matches at neutral venues has been widely welcomed by current captains and players, including Baroda skipper Irfan Pathan, Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel, Aditya Tare, captain of defending champions Mumbai, Bengal’s Manoj Tiwary and Pragyan Ojha and Himachal Pradesh veteran Paras Dogra.
The radical proposition had come from the Sourav Ganguly-headed technical committee, which suggested this as a way to negate the advantage of the home team in preparing pitches.While it was reported in the lead-up to the BCCI’s first annual conclave this week that several state associations had opposed the move, the four captains that TOI Sports spoke to - each of whom was at the BCCI’s captains and coaches’ discussion in Dharamsala - were fully supportive of the decision to host neutral matches in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy season.
Speaking exclusively to TOI Sports, Irfan said that for him, both as an experienced allrounder and captain, the exciting factor was what lay in store for domestic players targeting India careers. “I am very happy to hear that the BCCI has confirmed neutral venues, because this will level the playing field and also improve Indian cricket,” he told TOI Sports. “Now players will be taken out of their comfort zones, and force them to adapt, which I feel will result in players better suited to different conditions. This was one of the big talking points at the captain and coaches’ conclave. As a player, I know I will be pushed more and the same will be the case for others, which is good for domestic cricket. Of course we can only judge the success or failure after one year, but I really believe, like many other domestic captains, that the standard of Indian domestic cricket will improve with players forced to adapt quickly to different types of surfaces and, most importantly, not going into home matches fully aware of what will happen.”
The standard of Indian domestic cricket will improve with players being made to adapt more: Irfan Pathan (AFP)
For Parthiv too, the main takeaway from the conclave was the clarity of the BCCI to lift the standard of Indian cricket. “I was particularly impressed with the president’s mission statement that Indian cricket needed to be improved, especially when we go overseas. He spoke very well about the need to lift the standard of matches at home and in that regard, the BCCI’s decision is very good because it’s about fair play to all teams,” said the Gujarat captain. “There have been instances when games have finished in one-and-a-half days and that is not good for Indian cricket. As an experienced captain, I totally agree with Anurag Thakur. We need to shorten the gap between international and domestic cricket and to do that, we have to challenge our domestic players by playing in different conditions and neutral venues will do that.”
Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel (BCCL)
Bengal captain Tiwary concurs. “Absolutely, this will affect Indian cricket’s feeder system. This will help produce more well-rounded players who can adapt, and adaptability is what sometimes we have lacked when we go overseas,” says the batsman who has represented India 12 ODIs and three T20Is, before focusing on the issues of pitch doctoring. “What will happen for sure is that players will have to work harder to adapt. In neutral conditions, we won’t know what to exactly expect and that means adapting. At home, we in advance know what kind of wickets will be prepared, so accordingly we make plans and pick our teams. That will not be so straightforward now.”
Tare, under whom Mumbai won their 41st Ranji Trophy title this year, believes the decision is a positive move but one that brings with it several challenges. “It is welcome news that the BCCI has approved this proposal, as it’s a fairly radical one. Of course, it is always good to play at home and specifically being a Mumbai player I know the feeling that comes when you play at the Wankhede Stadium, but this will hopefully nullify chances of home teams preparing doctored tracks such as what we saw many times in the last Ranji season,” he said.
Aditya Tare led Mumbai to their 41st Ranji Trophy title last season (BCCL)
“The challenges it brings are not just on the field, but off it, because now you will be somewhat uncertain as to what type of team to select when you travel. Previously if you went to Chennai or came to Mumbai, you knew what sort of wickets to expect. That will not be so straightforward now. Now selectors will have to see what sort of players to select, and then captains and coaching staff will have to see what XI to play when they go somewhere. It will be very interesting, but ultimately we will only be able to judge the decision next year, once the season is over,” said the wicketkeeper-batsman who effected a Ranji record 48 dismissals this year.
Tiwary cited the example of home teams ordering certain types of pitches to boost outright results, admitting that last season even Bengal did so, and felt that this will not be the case in 2016-17.
“We have seen a number of occasions over the past two seasons when teams have doctored tracks to force outright wins, starting in Tamil Nadu where they made a rank turner, and when the ball starts to turn square in the first session of a match, you are inviting controversy,” he said. “We saw it in Saurashtra too last season, at the start, when Ravindra Jadeja took all those wickets, and I remember Mr. Sunil Gavaskar mentioning during commentary highlighting Jadeja’s performance on such surfaces and how it effects him when he bowls on pitches that don’t assist turn. Even with Bengal, we prepared a spinning track once last season to get the outright result.
“When we talk of home advantage, we as state teams go to a bit more depth to try and force results. What happens then is that some matches are over inside two days. People are not used to that and it comes as a surprise. This move has been taken to avoid those kinds of situations and controversies. We as Ranji captains have heard the views of our legendary cricketers, who felt that such things should not happen. Whatever decision the BCCI has taken is done in the right spirit, to take home advantage out of the equation and subsequent controversies that can arise.”
Tiwary’s main spin weapon last season was Pragyan Ojha, who moved from Hyderabad to Bengal. The left-arm spinner, who has played 24 Tests and 18 ODIs for India, echoed his captain’s views about players being taken out of their comfort zones. “I think this season will be more challenging and enhance our skills. It also will be more competitive,” he said. “And it will test our skills as we will play at neutral venues. Any team that plays in the home conditions undoubtedly takes the home advantage, let it be international or domestic teams.”
For Himachal veteran Dogra, one match from last season stands out: his team’s final league fixture, against Kerala in Mallapuram, which earned the dubious distinction of the being the second-shortest game in Ranji history with spinners taking 27 of the 34 wickets to fall in just four sessions. Himachal won that match, but the nature of that rank turner left their batsman very frustrated.
“Some teams have taken home advantage to a different level, when playing for an outright win in as few days as possible,” said Dogra. “When it gets bad is the point you see average spinners take a bunch of wickets, not quality bowlers. The part-timers who come on early and get wickets with their spin. Last season, in that Kerala game the spinners did everything. It was unplayable. We won that game, but it is not good for Ranji Trophy cricket.
“I think now with neutral venues you won’t see so much of that kind of pitch doctoring,” added Dogra, who last season equalled Ajay Sharma’s record for most double-centuries in Ranji Trophy history. “Now you need to take a squad which incorporates all sorts of players rather than those stacked in favour of one type when you travel. Earlier, you could say that if you were traveling to the eastern part of India you would take more seamers, or if you were going down south, take one more spinner, or in the north one extra batsman. I don’t think that will be the case now.”